


The Driving Incident

by nondeducible



Series: The Perseids [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Bickering, Established Relationship, Fluff, Johnlock Roulette, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 12:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3729298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nondeducible/pseuds/nondeducible
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting out of London by car on a sunny Friday afternoon was inevitably a disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Driving Incident

Getting out of London by car on a sunny Friday afternoon was inevitably a disaster. Approximately half of London’s population had exactly the same idea and it felt like all of them decided to drive north east. John and Sherlock had been stuck in traffic for nearly two hours since setting off from Baker Street.

“You still think this is better than an hour and a half on a bus?” John asked teasingly at Sherlock’s glowering profile. Sherlock had insisted on driving so John was free to relax in the passenger seat. The traffic didn’t really bother him when he wasn’t the one trying to navigate it.

“I told you it was a mistake,” Sherlock gritted out. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

“It’s a good thing I insisted on a car with air conditioning,” John sighed wistfully as he looked at the neighbouring car, its passengers sticking their heads through the windows in search of a breeze to cool their sweating faces.

They were on their way to visit Sherlock’s parents. Mr and Mrs Holmes lived just outside of London, in Hertfordshire, and without the traffic the journey should have taken them an hour. Actually, they wanted to take the train there, the quickest and easiest option by far, but planned engineering works meant there were replacement buses all along the route. Sherlock refused to even entertain the idea of taking a bus. It was as much a case of noisy people as of lack of appropriate leg space, something Sherlock pointed out John never had to deal with. John ignored the insult to his height and returned to his search for a rental car.

So now there were stuck somewhere on the outskirts of London, breathing in the slightly stale and dry air of air conditioning, and not getting any closer to their destination.

Sherlock has been a ball of nervous energy since they got in the car. Well, getting into the car in the first place was an ordeal in itself. Sherlock was nearly manic when packing, insisting on double and triple checking they had everything, running around the flat (in John’s honest opinion) like a headless chicken looking for his various knick knacks, delaying their journey by almost an hour. An hour that ended up costing them dearly in terms of traffic jams.

Sherlock fidgeted constantly, unable to get comfortable. He adjusted his seat fifteen times, air conditioning vents seven times, steering wheel three times, and all the mirrors sixteen times. John counted them all.

At this precise moment Sherlock was drumming his fingers on the gear stick. John knew why he couldn’t keep still but resisted to bring it up so far. This was their first ever visit to see Sherlock's parents as an official couple, and Sherlock was really nervous. John tried to broach the subject the day before, gently pointing out he's just as anxious, which got him an offended glare and a huff. John didn’t want to push Sherlock into closing off and sulking but the constant drumming and bouncing was starting to get on his nerves.

“It’ll be fine,” John said as he grabbed Sherlock’s restless hand and pulled it into his lap.

“Yes, of course it will be fine. Why wouldn’t it? They’re my parents, John, not the Queen,” Sherlock rattled off and started bouncing his leg. John took a deep breath and counted to ten.

“Then you know they’ll be fine with us,” he gave Sherlock’s hand a gentle squeeze. “They liked me well enough last time and that was the most awkward Christmas I’ve ever been to.”

The corner of Sherlock’s mouth twitched and his limbs calmed down a bit from their frantic fidgeting. John counted it as a full victory.

“They’re going to love me this time,” John grinned at Sherlock. “I mean, my future spouse is their son and not an assassin.”

John felt Sherlock squeeze his hand so hard he could hear the bones grinding. John's own body felt paralysed. His own words caught up with him. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Sherlock was staring at John like he has just sprouted an extra head, and was also doing a rather admirable impression of a gaping fish. John felt like he was about to burn from the force of his blush. Around them the cacophony of car horns told them it was time to move forward.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr](http://www.nondeducible.tumblr.com)


End file.
